Hiram Rhodes Revels

Go to the depot here, now, and what will you see? A well-dressed colored lady, with her little children by her side, whom she has brought up intelligently and with refinement, as much so as white children, comes to the cars, and where is she shown to? Into the smoking car, where men are cursing, swearing, spitting on the floor.

While I appreciated the educational advantages I enjoyed in the school and was proud of what I could show in mental culture, I had an earnest desire for something more than a mere business education... I desired to study for a profession, and this prompted me to leave my native state.